How many PCs does your company have in total? For those who couldn't answer immediately
How many PCs, tablets, and Macs does your company have in total right now? If you could answer immediately, you don't need to read any further. That is proof that your ledger is up to date.
In many companies, people get a bit stuck here. You have a rough idea of the number, but surprisingly few people in the office can state the exact count.
I'll say this upfront: the tool I'm about to introduce is free and requires no installation. If you're interested after reading, you can try it out on the spot.
When was the last time you updated your Excel ledger?
The reason this tool was created wasn't because of our own problems. It started when a client we support in back-office operations asked us, 'Can you do something about PC management?' When we took a look, they were managing their equipment in Excel. It was a single sheet created by someone, listing PC names, users, and purchase dates. In the beginning, that should have been enough.
However, as people come and go, equipment increases, and lease return deadlines arrive, there is no one left to update the sheet each time. Before you know it, devices belonging to employees who have left the company are still marked as 'in use' on the ledger. No one notices that the warranty has expired. Every time you perform an inventory check (the process of comparing actual numbers with the ledger), you have to verify serial numbers one by one. That is exhausting.
It's not that Excel is bad. The system itself was unreasonable because it would drift from reality unless you kept manually correcting it.
So, we built it to 'do something about it'
It wasn't planned as a commercial product, but a tool created to help a workplace struggling right in front of us. The name is simply 'IT Asset Management Tool'.
In a nutshell, it's a ledger that you open and use in your browser. There is no installation process. Once you extract the downloaded file and double-click the startup file, the management screen opens in the browser you always use (Edge or Chrome). There are no difficult initial settings either.
The biggest enemy of a ledger is the effort required for data entry. This is filled in automatically. When you press 'Collect this PC,' the PC name, OS, serial number, CPU, memory, etc., are automatically acquired and registered as the first unit. For other PCs in the office, you just take a small collection file on a USB memory stick and run it on the spot. Since it doesn't keep software resident in the background, it's designed to minimize resistance from employees who might worry about 'having monitoring software installed.' It also supports collecting data from Macs (macOS), so even in workplaces where Windows and Macs are mixed, they can be consolidated into a single ledger.
In the equipment list, you can see which PC is in whose hands in a single table. Devices that are broken, out of warranty, or lack security measures are highlighted by color. You can also check the status of BitLocker (encryption, a Windows feature that prevents the contents from being read even if the PC is stolen), antivirus, and Windows Update all at once, so you don't have to go around checking one by one to see if 'the contents of that laptop would be safe if it were lost outside'.
For inventory checks and executive reports, you can use the reporting features. You can output asset ledgers and department-based summaries in CSV, PDF, or Excel formats. You can also add your own custom items, such as lease contract numbers.
I will state this clearly: your data does not leave your premises
I think this is the point you are most concerned about when using a tool that handles internal PC information.
This tool never automatically sends the information it collects to our servers, the developer. The screen runs within your own PC (127.0.0.1, the address that points to yourself), and both the ledger data and the collected files are saved on that PC. For individual installations, you can also change the save location to a shared folder within your company.
We only collect information necessary for management, such as PC names, serial numbers, and encryption status. We do not acquire browser history, email bodies, file contents, or passwords. For companies that couldn't bring themselves to use services that store data in the cloud, this design, which completes everything within your own PC, should be a perfect fit. Since there is no mechanism for data to reach us in the first place, the worry of 'will my information be stolen?' doesn't even arise.
It is currently available for free
This tool is currently available for free download.
To be honest about the reason, first of all, I want people to use it in actual workplaces so I can learn what is missing. Since it was born from one company's 'can you do something about this?', I hope it reaches other companies struggling with their ledgers in the same way. I have written about a potential gradual transition to a paid model in the future on the landing page, but that is not something for right now. Please feel free to try it out if you are interested.
It supports Windows 10 and 11, and the collection targets also include macOS 12 and later. If it does not fit your needs, you can delete it by deleting the entire folder. We recommend trying the collection on a few devices first to see if it suits your company's operations. The full procedure is summarized in a manual with videos of the actual screens.
Product page (free download):
Operation manual (with videos):
Relief Co., Ltd.:
You can also check via video.
Introduction video (56 seconds):
Operation manual video (64 seconds):
You do not need to register everything at once. First, try pressing "Collect this PC" on your own PC. You will understand how the ledger is filled out just by doing that. The state where you can answer immediately next week when asked "How many company PCs are there?" begins with that one step.